“The case was concerned with the doctrine of residual diplomatic immunity enjoyed by former diplomats after they have left their diplomatic post in the foreign mission of their country ...”
ADDED Thursday 3^rd June 2021

“The case was concerned with historic sex offences and incest and related to the sentence passed on a defendant following a retrial involving a significant change of circumstance since the original convictions. It prompted the Court of Appeal to review what Fulford LJ described as the ‘deceptively simple’ wording of paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 2 to the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 and to give practical guidance on the approach to be taken by sentencing judges in order to ensure that the sentence passed following a retrial is not of ‘greater severity’ than that imposed first time around ...”
ADDED Tuesday 1^st June 2021

“The appeal related to an airport protest, in which human rights protesters took ‘direct action’ to stop a deportation light. It followed what the Lord Chief Justice described as ‘an extraordinarily difficult trial bristling with complex legal argument’ and prompted the court to consider the criminal offences created by the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, the defence of necessity and challenges to the Law Officers’ consent to a prosecution ...”
ADDED Friday 28^th May 2021

“The case was concerned with an appeal by a registered sex offender against the wording of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. It prompted the Court of Appeal to review both the principles to be applied and the practical approach to be adopted when considering such orders. It also afforded the court an opportunity to discourage the launching of appeals by defendants with full capacity and the benefit of legal representation, who agree to the making of an order but then appeal on the basis of a subsequent change of heart ...”
ADDED Wednesday 26^th May 2021

“The case concerned the aftermath of the Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist attack, on 29 November 2019, in which two young people, Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, were stabbed to death. Specifically, the court had to consider the lawfulness of the steps then taken by the Justice Secretary and the Probation Service to tighten the licence conditions of terrorist offenders released on licence ...”
ADDED Monday 24^th May 2021

“The case concerned a highly unusual situation in which the official transcript provided for the purposes of a criminal appeal was inaccurate and incomplete and the initial hearing in the Court of Appeal proceeded on an entirely erroneous factual basis. Unfortunately, counsel failed to spot the error. For many of us, our immediate reaction when reading this judgment may be to think ‘There but for the Grace of God!’ but the harsh reality is that this case should serve as a wake-up call to both prosecution and defence advocates regarding their professional duties in paying close attention to and making an accurate and contemporaneous note of the key elements of the judge’s summing up to the jury ...”
ADDED Friday 21^st May 2021

“The judgment related to three unrelated sentencing appeals, which had been listed for hearing together since they all raised issues as to the correct approach to determining the appropriate reduction for a guilty plea ...”

ADDED Wednesday 19^th May 2021

“The case was concerned with the lawfulness of the advice given by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to Her Majesty the Queen in late August 2019, to prorogue Parliament for a period of five weeks. As is obvious, it did not in fact relate to a criminal cause or matter. It did, however, prompt the Supreme Court to consider the extent to which the courts should be prepared to rule upon disputes regarding the conduct of politicians and issues of political controversy, a problem which has often taxed the courts in criminal appeals ...”

ADDED Monday 17^th May 2021

“The case was concerned with the nature of the different criminal offences relating to, on the one hand, failing to comply with the requirement of a planning contravention notice and, on the other hand, making false or misleading statements in purported compliance with such a requirement. It prompted the Divisional Court to analyse how those differences impacted on the six-month time limit for charging summary offences and to consider whether the power to require the provision of information extended to the provision of documents …”

ADDED Friday 14th May 2021

“The case related to an indictment charging an attempt under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 to commit the offence of international child abduction. It prompted the Court of Appeal to review the authorities on what is meant by an act which is ‘more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence’ and to relate that concept to offences under the Child Abduction Act 1984 and to the issue of geographical proximity to a port of departure ...”

ADDED Wednesday 12^th May 2021